The USGA announced 10 more players who will be joining the field for September’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot on Monday morning.
Ten more names have been added to the field for the 120th U.S. Open.
Without qualifying events due to the coronavirus pandemic, the entire 144-player field for this year’s event at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, Sept. 17-20, will be comprised entirely of exempt players.
The new additions gained entry as the top-10 point earners – not otherwise exempt – from the first five events of the European Tour’s U.K. Swing, led by Sam Horsfield, who won two of the five events at the Hero Open and Celtic Classic. Joining Horsfield are Thomas Detry, Andy Sullivan, Rasmus Hojgaard, Renato Paratore, Romain Langasque, Sami Valimaki, Adrian Otaegui, Connor Syme and Justin Harding.
Over the next few weeks, 10 more exemptions will be handed out. The top-five point earners who are not otherwise exempt from the Korn Ferry Tour’s Boise Open through this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship will be bound for Winged Foot. In addition, the top-five players, once again not otherwise exempt, on the PGA Tour’s final FedEx Cup standings will also qualify.
The USGA announced on Wednesday the seven amateur players who gained entry in the U.S. Open field.
With a fully exempt U.S. Open field in 2020, amateurs didn’t have a chance to play their way in to the country’s national championship.
Still, the amateurs weren’t forgotten this year. The U.S. Golf Association announced on Wednesday the seven amateur players who gained entry in the U.S. Open field courtesy of their position in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Players may not have had their chance at qualifying in the traditional sense – first an 18-hole local qualifier than a 36-hole sectional qualifier – but their body of work in college, junior and amateur events was still recognized through this exemption category.
These top seven amateurs in the WAGR, as of Aug. 19, will appear at Winged Foot next month:
No. 1 Takumi Kanaya, of Japan
No. 2 Ricky Castillo, of Yorba Linda, California
No. 3 Chun An Yu, of Chinese Taipei
No. 4 Davis Thompson, of Saint Simons Island, Georgia
No. 5 Eduard Rousaud, of Spain
No. 6 Sandy Scott, of Scotland
No. 7 John Pak, of Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Thompson, Scott and Pak appeared in last week’s U.S. Amateur field, with Scott advancing the farthest (Round of 32). Castillo withdrew shortly before the tournament in an effort to protect the field after experiencing fatigue but returning a negative COVID test. Last month, he advanced to the semifinals of the Western Amateur.
Scott and Pak both played in the 2019 Walker Cup matches – Scott for Great Britain and Ireland and Pak for the U.S.
Kanaya, 22, will compete in his first U.S. Open. He won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2018 and was the runner-up last year. Yu, also 22, is a fifth-year senior at Arizona State University and will be playing in his third consecutive U.S. Open.
The addition of these seven men brings the total number of amateurs in the 2020 U.S. Open field to 13.
Andy Ogletree and John Augenstein earned exemptions as last year’s U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up, respectively, at Pinehurst No. 2. Preston Summerhays earned his spot by winning the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur and Lukas Michel earned his with a 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur victory.
Cole Hammer was last year’s Mark H. McCormack Medal recipient as the world’s top-ranked amateur, while James Sugrue won the 2019 Amateur Championship, an event conducted by the R&A.
The PGA Tour’s revised 2019-20 schedule features just three major championships.
The PGA Tour’s revised 2019-20 schedule features just one major championship, the PGA Championship at Harding Park.
The COVID pandemic caused major upheaval across the Tour’s schedule, including a 91-break starting with the second round of the Players Championship.
These changes moved the PGA Championship to August. Following that, there will be just four tournaments, including the season-ending Tour Championship on Labor Day weekend.
The U.S. Open is in September but technically it’s on the 2020-21 schedule, as is the Masters Tournament, which is usually the first major of the year, but in 2020, it’ll be the last, in November.
The Open Championship. meanwhile, was canceled, giving golf fans just three majors in 2020.
PGA Championship
New dates: Aug. 6-9
Original dates: May 14-17
Location: TPC Harding Park, San Francisco
U.S. Open
New dates: Sept. 17-20
Original dates: June 18-21
Location: Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, New York
The USGA seriously considered staging the U.S. Open in December at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, but that plan was abandoned when the R&A canceled the Open Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby freeing a slot from Sept. 17-20 that was tentatively being held in case the Open was rescheduled.
Masters
New dates: Nov. 12-15
Original dates: April 9-12
Location: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
“We hope the anticipation of staging the Masters Tournament in the fall brings a moment of joy to the Augusta community and all those who love the sport,” said Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley.
Open Championship
Canceled. The 149th Open was one of the victims of the schedule upheaval, as the R&A announced April 6 that the event will not be held in 2020. Royal St. George’s will still serve as host of the 149th Open but will have to wait for July 2021. This allows for the 150th playing to still be at St. Andrews, but it will be in 2022 instead of 2021.
Stewardship is what inspires iconic clubs to host prestigious national competitions, like the upcoming U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Stewardship is what inspires iconic clubs to host prestigious national competitions. There’s a legacy of protecting and promoting the game. Ego is what motivates these golf landmarks to open the gates to the public. There’s a longstanding desire to show off a little, as well.
Winged Foot is beginning to get camera ready for another U.S. Open.
There was some animosity here after Geoff Ogilvy claimed the championship in 2006 because it took longer than anticipated to restore the East Course, which supported most of the USGA infrastructure. Members declined an invitation to host again in 2015.
It was hard to blame them.
Why in the world would any golfer who pays dues religiously volunteer to give up access to a historic club at the height of the summer?
See above.
“It’s right there in our charter,” said Bryan Marsal, who is the club’s chairman for this year’s U.S. Open, which will is scheduled to be held at Winged Foot Sept. 17-20. “The club was formed by a group of guys who decided they wanted to have 600 members and two golf courses and they wanted Winged Foot to be a place where championships would be played. … I’ve been a member here for 40 years and I view myself as a steward in a long line of stewards that have carried on that tradition.
“Now, the other side of that is the fact that I’m proud of Winged Foot and I like to showcase the place, especially to people who love golf.”
Geoff Ogilvy, of Australia, hoists the U.S. Open trophy after winning the U.S. Open golf tournament at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y. Sunday, June 18, 2006. Ogilvy finished at 5 over par.
It’s a common theme.
“There are privileges of being a member, but there are also responsibilities of being a member,” Baltusrol Golf Club president Rick Shea said. “We host tournaments on all levels and I think there is a broad acceptance of the responsibility to be part of the game, to maintain a championship venue and make the course available from time to time for the greats of the game to come and be tested.”
Of course, the clubs are compensated for hosting a major. Renovation projects and capital improvements are not cheap, so the revenue usually overshadows the inconvenience.
Hosting adds prestige, too.
While there is financial risk hosting some of the amateur championships, there is competition among clubs to land those events.
“The interest level, I’ve seen it ebb and flow a bit, but never to a point where we’ve struggled to find willing hosts,” USGA managing director of championships Mark Hill said.
A quick compliment from a weary competitor is often thanks enough.
Members are generally eager to see the best players in the world playing their course from the tips and typically swell with pride when the headliners get tangled in the rough or humbled on the greens.
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“We’re following in the footsteps of members who in the past believed it was important to host these tournaments,” said former Oak Hill Country Club president Tim Thaney, who oversaw the recent restoration of the East Course. “It adds prestige to the club. It generates a lot of interest from the community, helps the economy. Oak Hill is a fun place to be when these things are in town.
“Now, it was a little disappointing when Jason Dufner shot a 63 on a soggy course during the PGA Championship in 2013. He made it look a little too easy.”
The value of status
With a high concentration of Top 100 courses in New York and New Jersey, competition for members can be fierce. There is no better marketing campaign than one punctuated with a slice of golf history.
“Jack Nicklaus won two U.S. Opens here,” Shea noted of Baltusrol.
Look what Tiger Woods did for the renowned Black Course at Bethpage State Park. A once tired public course quickly became a destination when he won the U.S. Open there in 2002.
And the plan is to remain in the conversation.
“We’re proud to be associated with championship golf,” said Mary Ann Sullivan, who along with Peter Knobloch will be chairing the U.S. Women’s Amateur. “Hosting a tournament every few years is something we’d like to do in order to remain relevant in the public golfing world. We have a strong class of members who have joined in the last five years. A lot of them grew up in the area, have an interest in golf and know about us from watching The Barclays on TV.”
The replica trophies from past championships are eye-catching when prospective members tour the grounds. Highlighting a demanding course on television during a championship telecast also pays dividends.
Over the years, Winged Foot has played host to the U.S. Open (1929, 1959, 1974, 1984, 2006), PGA Championship (1997), U.S. Amateur (1940, 2004), U.S. Senior Open (1980), U.S. Women’s Open (1972, 1957), Walker Cup (1949) and U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (2016).
Baltusrol has been the site for the U.S. Open (1903, 1915, 1936, 1954, 1967, 1980, 1993), PGA Championship (2005, 2018), U.S. Women’s Open (1961, 1985), U.S. Amateur (1904, 1926, 1946, 2000), U.S. Women’s Amateur (1901, 1911) and U.S. Junior Amateur (2018).
Oak Hill has stayed on the radar with the U.S. Open (1956, 1958, 1989), PGA Championship (1980, 2003, 2013), Ryder Cup (1995), U.S. Amateur (1949, 1998), U.S. Senior Open (1984) and Senior PGA Championship (2008, 2019).
“I’m a golf nut and I think we have a disproportionate number of members who love the history of the game,” Shea added. “I’ve watched the 1967 telecast of the U.S. Open and there’s an epic moment on the seventh hole on Sunday when Palmer hits driver, 1-iron to 10 feet and Nicklaus hits driver, 2-iron to about 30 feet on the fringe. Nicklaus makes the putt for birdie and Palmer misses. You could argue the kingship of American golf was passed from one man to another right there. There was going to be a moment between those two guys and the fact that it happened in that round is something that is really cool. From where I sit, I think we want more of that in our history.
“I’m not sure I can quantify it in terms of new members, but there is no doubt it helps. I grew up in Massachusetts and remember watching the 1980 U.S. Open so this certainly became an aspirational spot for that young golfer.”
History is a handy trump card when a member grumbles.
“We have no problems with the membership,” Marsal added. “We have a waiting list. We have a waiting list because we have the finest golf course in the New York area. We’re a healthy club financially and we’re in demand. Part of that is because we’re a place where championships are played.”
SOUTHAMPTON, NY – JUNE 17: Brooks Koepka of the United States celebrates with the U.S. Open Championship trophy during the trophy presentation after winning the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 17, 2018 in Southampton, New York. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
The nuts and bolts
Getting the attention of the USGA or the PGA of America usually requires a fair amount of pedigree. Whether the course was designed by a Golden Age icon or a modern contemporary, it must have a reputation for providing a quality test.
“It usually begins with a club reaching out to us and expressing an interest,” Hill explained. “The golf course is certainly a big part of it, a key and integral part of it. That’s where it starts.”
Knobloch got the ball rolling for Westchester in 2016.
“He was over at Winged Foot watching the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and mentioned to the USGA, ‘This would be great at Westchester,’ ” Sullivan said. “They suggested writing a letter and we were quickly in talks for 2021.”
To land a marquee event, clubs often have to have a dress rehearsal.
“We saw a lot of enthusiasm at Ridgewood (N.J.) Country Club when they hosted the U.S. Girls Junior in 2016,” Hill said. “We stayed connected with the people there and it’s probably obvious now since they are hosting the U.S. Amateur in 2022.”
The financial details are well-guarded even from the general membership, but a club stands to bring in millions from a major championship. According to New York State estimates, the regional economic impact of the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black was $120 million.
Winged Foot is going to be in a unique situation with limits on attendance likely in place.
The majors come with infrastructure that requires months to build and remove. The amateur championships take up far less square footage and only interrupt member play for 7-10 days.
“When we hosted the PGA Championship in 2013, our practice range was shut down virtually the whole season because that’s where the entrance and merchandise tent were,” Thaney said. “The build-out takes almost the entire summer. We had a smaller build-out for the Senior PGA last year in May, but we still took the driving range out of play until the Fourth of July. That’s a big inconvenience for the members, but we do get a financial reward. We actually did quite well financially. I can’t get into the details, but we have a different contract for the 2023 PGA Championship that kind of guarantees the club a certain amount of money for the honor and inconvenience of hosting a major.”
The USGA provides a stipend for hosting its amateur championships, but the clubs are responsible for raising funds to cover most of the operating expenses. It’s not a small investment. The budget for next year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur was north of $500,000.
“When a club makes a commitment to host a championship, they agree to take on certain responsibilities,” Hill said. “Volunteer recruitment and management is one of them. There are social functions, too, at the club. There are expenses that come with the championships.”
In the past, corporate sponsorship and outings helped cover the cost.
“Considering the environment we’re dealing with right now, it’s not going to be an easy haul,” Sullivan explained. “We took a look at the number a few weeks ago and we’d like to bring the cost down. So yes, it’s been over $500,000 and we’ve made the membership aware, but we have to work to pare that number down. We’re confident we’ll still be able to present a wonderful championship, but hopefully, without overdoing it. We’ve had a lot of support from the members so far, but going forward, it’s understandable we probably won’t get the same level of support.”
In most cases, the grind is quickly forgotten.
There are moments from each championship at Winged Foot that have remained vivid as time passes. Some include trash cans. Some include rainbows.
“Every member here has wonderful stories of the championships they’ve been to,” club president Brendan Boyle said. “We have a long history of supporting and volunteering. It’s part of the DNA of Winged Foot and our members.”
Mike Dougherty covers golf for The Journal News/lohud.com, part of the USA Today Network. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com or on Twitter: @lohudgolf.
The USGA is canceling local and final qualifying, and the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot will feature an all-exempt field.
Switching dates from June to September won’t be the only big change at this year’s U.S. Open brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The USGA is canceling local and final qualifying, the infamously arduous process by which half the field makes it into the championship. Instead, the 120th U.S. Open contested Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot in New York will feature an all-exempt field.
“This is a decision that was exceptionally difficult. The openness of our championships is our DNA—10,000 people following their dream,” said John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director of championships. “It was not on the table at the beginning. We felt confident we could conduct qualifying for everything.”
The original schedule called for 108 local qualifying and 12 final qualifying tournaments, the latter conducted in eight states, Japan, England and Canada. “Rescheduling that into the fall just wasn’t possible,” according to Bodenhamer. “The biggest consideration has been the need to test players, caddies and essential workers inside the so-called bubble. We looked at every single scenario before we decided to cancel anything.”
Qualifying isn’t the only USGA event falling victim to the reality of a public health emergency: the governing body is also cancelling another four of its amateur championships, in addition to the six events that have already been iced. That leaves just four of the planned 14 championships to be contested in 2020. Those are the USGA’s four oldest and most important tournaments: the U.S. Open at Winged Foot; the 75th U.S. Women’s Open, which was moved to December 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston; the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur, scheduled for August 3-9 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.; and the 120th U.S. Amateur, which takes place August 10-16 at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
Both Amateur championships remain in their original calendar slots and the USGA believes they will take place as scheduled provided CDC and government guidelines make it feasible.
The four events now being pulled from the schedule were scheduled for August and September: the Mid-Amateur, the Women’s Mid-Amateur, the Senior Amateur and the Senior Women’s Amateur. They join six others that have already been canceled: the Amateur Four-Ball, the Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, the Senior Open, the Senior Women’s Open, and both Junior championships. Bodenhamer described the cancellations as “heartbreaking.”
“We went into this trying to do everything we could to crown every champion that we could,” he said.
The schedule changes are driven by a number of factors, not least health and safety concerns for the Allied Golf Associations that shoulder much of the on-the-ground burden for USGA events. Many of those associations face financial pressure and wildly varying state and local government restrictions that make logistics near impossible. Also, some qualifying venues have been forced to close and the need to make up lost revenue makes hosting qualifying impossible.
Nor could the USGA’s championship team adequately function amid the pandemic. “The USGA is headquartered in New Jersey, the second most hard-hit state in the country with a higher mortality rate than the global average,” said Craig Annis, the chief brand officer. “Our ability to effectively put on all 14 championships with qualifiers when we can’t be physically together, can’t fly, and in some instances would need to quarantine for 14 days before being able to operate in some states, is severely limited.”
The new COVID-19 reality will be apparent even at the championships that are staged, especially at Winged Foot. The customary number of volunteers at a U.S. Open—between 5,500 and 6,000—will be cut to around 200. “Most of the volunteers at our qualifying and championships are of an age demographic that is at high risk,” Bodenhamer explained.
The targeted number of people permitted to be on-site each day at the Open will be around 2,000. With a typical complement of fans, that number would usually be around 40,000.
“We know with the U.S. Open it’s going to be significantly scaled back. We are trying to get our numbers as low as possible to get the necessary approvals to play,” Bodenhamer said. “Whatever we’re permitted to do by governments, we will build on that.”
The cancellation of Open qualifying will be keenly felt among golf fans. It’s from those final qualifying tournaments that Cinderella stories emerge. In the last quarter-century, three eventual Open champions first made their way into the field via qualifying: Steve Jones in 1996, Michael Campbell in 2005 and Lucas Glover in 2009. Last year 9,125 competitors entered qualifying for the Open, with more than 35,000 entering all USGA individual competitions.
The USGA recently unveiled a new “From Many, One” branding campaign that emphasized the pathway from qualifying to victory in its premier championship. This year’s reality is “From Not As Many, One.”
So how will the field for Winged Foot be determined? “We will endeavor to create categories of exemption that will as best as possible be reminiscent of what qualifying would produce,” Bodenhameer explained. “It won’t be perfect. It’ll look pretty close when we get to the end.”
That process will include crunching data on how many PGA Tour players usually compete in an Open, plus how many from the European and Korn Ferry tours and other global circuits. And amateurs too. “We know it’s about 15 amateurs on average over the last five years,” Bodenhamer added. “We’re going to look at that as we carve out what those exemptions are. We also have a smaller field, so that’s a consideration.”
The U.S. Open field was reduced from 156 to 144 when the move to September was announced, to accommodate the reduced daylight.
Traditionally, the top 60 players in the official world golf ranking are exempt into the Open, but don’t expect something as simple as raising that number to the top 75 or 100, Bodenhamer cautioned. “We’re going to be much more nuanced than that,” he said. “We’re going to be looking at what a U.S. Open field has looked like.”
Phil Mickelson currently stands 61st in the world ranking, and if he doesn’t climb would need a special exemption into the major in which he has finished second a record six times, including at Winged Foot in 2006. Mickelson said earlier this year that he would decline any special invitation from the USGA, though that was when he expected to have ample opportunities to play his way into the field. Bodenhamer said those special invitations will still be part of the criteria for ’20: “We do have a process we go through to look at potential special exemptions we would extend, and we anticipate doing that again this year.”
The radical calendar shake-up means the normally frenetic pace of the USGA’s championship season will now be eerily quiet. The first event contested will be U.S. Women’s Amateur on August 3-9, the same week as the rescheduled PGA Championship.
“We turned over every stone we could. We looked at every scenario. Getting to where we got was a long, difficult journey,” Bodenhamer said of the eight weeks of intense internal discussions. “It’s heartbreaking to cancel one championship, let alone 10. What we’re up against with the health and safety of those who host our championships and those who play in them, we just felt we had no choice.”
The 120th U.S. Open championship is currently scheduled for Sept. 17-20, 2020, at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
The 120th U.S. Open championship is currently scheduled for Sept. 17-20, 2020, at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
It was originally on the calendar for June 18-21 but it has been rescheduled as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Septemer event will be the sixth time Winged Foot has hosted the U.S. Open.
The previous U.S. Open champs to win at Winged Foot are Geoff Ogilvy (2006), Fuzzy Zoeller (1984), Hale Irwin (1974), Billy Casper (1959) and Bobby Jones (1929).
Future locations
2020
Winged Foot Golf Club (West), Mamaroneck, New York, Sept. 17-20
2021
Torrey Pines Golf Course (South), San Diego, June 17-20
2022
The Country Club, Brookline, Massachusetts, June 16-19
2023
The Los Angeles Country Club (North), Los Angeles, June 15-18
2024
Pinehurst Resort & Country Club (No. 2), Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina, June 13-16
2025
Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania, June 12-15
2026
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, New York, June 18-21
2027
Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, California, June 17-20
Negotiations over the new golf calendar were so fluid the USGA discussed contingency plans to hold the U.S. Open in December at Riviera.
Tense negotiations over the new professional golf calendar announced Monday were so fluid that as late as Sunday the USGA was still making contingency plans to contest the U.S. Open in December at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Golfweek has learned.
That plan was abandoned when the R&A confirmed that the 149th Open Championship at Royal St. George’s in England would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby freeing a slot from Sept. 17-20 that was tentatively being held in case the Open was rescheduled. Those dates then went to the U.S. Open, which will still be contested at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York as originally planned. The championship was to be held June 18-21.
Playing the U.S. Open in the Northeast three months later than planned has forced the USGA to reduce the field from the usual 156 competitors. “We will be decreasing the playing field to 144 players in order to mitigate daylight challenges,” said Craig Annis, the USGA’s chief brand officer.
Annis also confirmed to Golfweek that the organization began planning to contest its flagship event on the West coast when it became increasingly clear that its June dates would have to be postponed. Winged Foot is just four miles from the town of New Rochelle, which was one of the first hot spots of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 4,000 New Yorkers.
“When it became clear that we would need to postpone the June dates, we began exploring a Plan B option in conjunction with the industry and our broadcast partner Fox Sports that had us potentially moving the U.S. Open to December, among other dates,” he said. “Any move later into autumn would have required us to play out west.”
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The USGA had initial conversations with both Torrey Pines — which is slated to host the ’21 Open — and Pebble Beach, last year’s venue. Asked to confirm those talks, Annis replied, “We were in touch with several and some were simply top of mind as we considered scenarios.”
The USGA’s focus eventually narrowed to Riviera Country Club, site of the PGA Tour’s annual Genesis Invitational. The storied club has previously hosted the 1948 U.S. Open and two PGA Championships (1983 and 1995), but the property has long been considered too small to support the huge infrastructure required for a modern day major championship. But a U.S. Open being staged without a huge corporate hospitality build out — and potentially fewer fans on site — made Riviera a viable option again.
“We were honored that Riviera stepped up to offer their wonderful course to host the U.S. Open Championship this year if need be. They have been a wonderful partner and we have been intrigued by the possibility of going back for many years, but couldn’t quite figure out how to do it on a smaller footprint,” Annis said. “This situation could have been ideal given the circumstances. We continued to develop potential plans in line with this concept until a date in September became available. In the end, we believe the opportunity to try and continue to play the U.S. Open at Winged Foot this year would be better for golf and was one that we should pursue if given the chance.”
The prospects of the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot took a hit after an executive order closed the club amid the coronavirus outbreak.
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An executive order by Gov. Andrew Cuomo resulted in the indefinite closure of Winged Foot Golf Club and further complicated a decision facing the USGA regarding the future of the U.S. Open.
The organization expects to announce next month whether the championship will be contested June 18-21, postponed or canceled.
New York remains the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which took root in New Rochelle, some three miles from the gates of Winged Foot. The private 36-hole facility ceased operations Sunday evening.
“There are multiple variables that we need to consider, including the CDC and local guidelines,” USGA chief brand officer Craig Annis said Monday. “We are continuing to monitor the situation and making relevant contingency plans.
“We expect to make a decision sometime in the middle of April.”
The USGA staffers who had been working at Winged Foot are now sheltering in place at various locations in Westchester.
Preparations began to slow earlier this month and were halted altogether a week ago. Only the protective bases that provide support for major infrastructure are in place. No grandstands or hospitality structures have been erected.
Winged Foot Golf Club, host of the 2020 U.S. Open, is now closed. (Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)
“We simply did not want to put anyone at risk,” Annis said via email. “While construction onsite at Winged Foot has stopped for now, we are continuing to hold the dates for the U.S. Open in June and will monitor all available guidance and regulations from the CDC, WHO and other federal, state and local authorities to do what is in the best interests of the community.”
Finding a new date for the U.S. Open might be difficult with the Masters and PGA Championship already postponing. There will be a July 30-August 2 date available if the Olympics announced it is postponing the Games in Tokyo. It’s possible the U.S. Open would have to be scaled down if the situation improves enough in the coming weeks to play in June.
Winged Foot is allowed to have essential personnel on the grounds while the closure is in effect, allowing the grounds crew to maintain the West Course, which recently underwent an extensive restoration that highlights the original A.W. Tillinghast details.
